Governor Chris Sununu of New Hampshire delivered a body blow to Republicans hoping to take back the Senate when he announced he would not challenge Senator Maggie Hassan.
Mr Sununu, who won election in 2016 and succeeded Ms Hassan as governor, has been considered a blue-chip Senate candidate in a state both Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden won. Mr Sununu has since been re-elected twice in the Granite State.
“I’d rather push myself 120 miles an hour delivering wins for New Hampshire than to slow down, end up on Capitol Hill, debating partisan politics without results,” Mr Sununu said in a news conference. Rather, Mr Sununu, who is the son of former Governor John H Sununu and the brother of former Senator John E Sununu, said he would run for a fourth term as governor.
“It’s just clear that I can be more effective doing that here in the corner office in the Granite state,” he said.
The move is a hit to Republicans, who need to gain only one seat to win back the Senate, which is evenly divided with 50 Republican and Democratic senators each, but with Vice President Kamala Harris able to cast a deciding vote, Democrats have a slim majority.
Republicans had aggressively courted Mr Sununu to run for the seat, given how he won re-election in New Hampshire with 65 per cent of the vote despite Mr Biden winning the state and Senator Jeanne Shaheen, a Democrat, also winning re-election.
The Cook Political Report had rated New Hampshire’s 2022 race as “Leans Democratic” along with races in Nevada, Arizona and Georgia. Republicans are also defending two open seats in North Carolina and Pennsylvania.
Senator Hassan won her 2016 race with 1,017 votes when she beat incumbent Republican Senator Kelly Ayotte.
